Protector mechanism for looms.



No. 782,949. PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905.

' H. 06ml.

PROTECTOR MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 782,949. PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905.

- H. COTE.

PROTECTOR MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION II LED NOV. 10, 1904.

2 SHEETS-$12331 2.

UNITED STATES Patented February 21, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY CUTE, OF WEST WARREN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DRAPER COMPANY, HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OF MAINE.

PROTECTOR MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,949, dated February 21, 1905. Application filed November 10, 1904. Serial No. 232,108.

., tion of novel means for actuating the lay ofa loom whereby when the shuttle fails to box properly the forward beat of the lay is shortened, so that if the shuttle is in theshed there will be no warp smash due to the beat-up. Ordinarily the lay has under all circumstances a substantially uniform stroke, and if the shuttle fails to boX properly the protector mechanism causes the lay to bang 0E, or in looms equipped with antibang devices the warp is automatically slackened, so that no damage will be caused by the presence of the shuttle therein. In my present invention I make use of the protector mechanism, omitting the usual frog and dagger, however, and by such mechanism cause a shortening of the forward stroke of the lay when the shuttle fails to box. This shortening of the stroke is effected by shifting the connection between the lay and a member of the lay and actuating mechanism, such as the pitman, the latter maintaining positive control of the lay when the stroke is shortened.

The various novel features of my invention will be fully described hereinafter in the subjoined specification and particularly pointed out in the claims appended thereto.

Figure 1 is a left-hand side elevation. of a portion of a loom with one embodiment of my invention applied thereto, the lay being just about to begin its forward stroke or beat, the shuttle being supposed to be properly boxed. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1, the lower part of the guide being broken o"-t and the adjacent end of the pitman being shown in cross-section. Fig. 3

. is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the lay at the end of its forward beat when the latter has been shortened by or through failure of the shuttle to box properly. Fig. 4: is a vertical sectional detail through the guide and adjacent parts on the line 4 4:, Fig. 2, looktion of the connection between the protectorshaft and the guide to govern the position of the latter.

The lay A provided at each end with a shuttle-box, as B, lay-swords A (only one being shown,) the protector rock-shaft P, mounted in bearings under the lay and controlled by a spring S, Fig. 2, the binder B for each shuttle-box, and the cooperating binder-finger b mounted on an arm 6 of the rock-shaft, may be and are all of usual and well-known construction.

As shown in Fig. 1, the crank-shaft C is provided with a crank O for each lay-sword, each crank being connected with a pitman (1, the front end of each pitman being, in accordance with my present invention, connected by a shiftable connection with the lay. The cars a of the lay-swords have mounted therein a rock-shaft 1, held from longitudinal movement by a collar 2, fast thereon adjacent the outer one of each pair of ears, (see Fig. 2,) and adjacent .the'inner ear the hub of a pinion 3 is rigidly secured to the shaft. Between the ears of each lay-sword the shaft 1 passes through and is secured to a hubt, (see Fig. 4,) secured to or forming part of an elongated upturned guide 5, longitudinally slotted at 6 from one to the other end. By turning the rock-shaft in one or the other direction the guide will be swung forward toward or rearward away from the lay. A slide-block 7 is fitted to slide easily in the guide and is pivotally connected by a pin 8 with cheeks 9, bolted to the forward end of the pitman, the cheeks receiving between them the slide-block and the guide, as shown. Below the hub L a depending toe 10 on the guide is adapted to at times abut against an adjustable stop, shown as a screw-stud 11, mounted in the lay-sword and held in adjusted position by a check-nut (See Fig. A.)

ing toward the left; and Fig. 5 is a side eleva- An arm 13 on the protector-shaft P has an attached segment-gear 14: in mesh with the adjacent pinion 3, and preferably there will be two pinions and two arms with their segmental gears to thereby better distribute the strain along the protector-shaft. The gearing is so arranged that when the said shaft P is turned by the spring S in the direction of arrow 15, Fig. 1, the rock-shaft 1 will be turned in the same direction to thereby swing the guides 5 forward toward the lay.

From an inspection of Fig. 1 it will be manifest that so long as the shifting connection between the pitman and the lay-viz., the slideblocks 7remain at the lower ends of their guides the stroke of the lay will be uniform; but if the blocks are permitted to shift upward along the guides as the crank-shaft turns from back to front center the forward beat of the lay will be shortened.

Considering Fig. 1, let it be supposed that the shuttle is properly boxed in either shuttle-box, the lay having just passed back center in readiness to beat up. The properlyboxed shuttle throws the binder B outward, and at such time the binder-finger will have turned the protector-shaft oppositely to the arrow 15 and into the position shown in Fig. 1. Such turning of the shaft 1 has acted through the gearing 3 13 to swing the guides rearward, (the slide-blocks being below the v fulcrum 1 of the guides,) so that the thrust of the pitman tends to force the blocks more firmly into the lower ends of the guides. The lay then beats up its full stroke and the filling is beaten in at the fell, and then the lay begins to swing back and at about top center the shuttle is thrown. As soon as the shuttle leaves the box the spring S is free to act, and it turns the protector-shaft in the direction of arrow 15, Fig. l, and through the gearing the rock-shaft 1 is similarly turned, swinging the guides forward more or less toward the lay, so that by theirinclination the pull of the pitman tends to retain the slide-blocks in the lower ends of the guides, the line of pull practically passing through the first of the slide-blocks and the fulcrum of its cooperating guide. When the shuttle enters the opposite box at about back center, the parts are restored to the position shown in Fig. 1, completing the cycle. If, however, the shuttle fails to box, the guides are thrown forward to their extreme position relatively to the lay, as shown in Fig. 3, as soon as the cranks 0* have passed their back center and begin to thrust the pitman forward, and thereupon the slideblocks 7 shift or slide upward in the guides. Such shifting continues until the relative position of the parts shown in Fig. 3 is reached, and at such time the lay is forward as far as it will go; but it will be seen that its stroke has been much shortened, the effect of the thrust of the pitman having been so largely neutralized by the shiftingof the slide-blocks.

If the shuttle is then in the shed, as shown at S", Fig. 3, no damage will be done to the warps, because the lay has stopped some distance back of the fell. If the loom turns over one or more times before stoppage, caused by the usual filling-fork and means controlled thereby, no damage can be done, for the connections between the pitman and the lay will shift up and down in the guides, giving a reduced stroke of the lay.

In order to adjust the abnormal stroke of the lay for shuttles of different widths, I have provided a stop-screw 16 at the upper end of each guide. The farther in the screw extends into the path of the slide-block the less will be the decrease in the forward stroke, and vice versa. Consequently for a wide shuttle the screw is turned out and for a narrow one it is set up. WVhen the normal beat up takes place, the toes 10 of the guides abut against the stops 11, releasing the protector mechanism and the intermediate gearing from the thrust of the pitman.

The connection between the pitman and the lay is always positive, and hence the lay, even when shortened under abnormal conditions, is positively controlled just as completely as when the loom is running normally. This connection, inasmuch as it is movable from one position to another under certain conditions, is a shiftable connection and is so designated in the claims hereinafter, the shifting being effected by positively-acting means, as will be manifest.

My invention is not restricted to the precise construction and arrangement herein shown and described, as the same may be varied or modified in different particulars without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a loom, alayhavingashuttle-box, layactuating mechanism, including a 7 member having a shiftable connection with the lay, and positively-acting means to shift said connection and positively shorten the stroke of the lay by a predetermined amount when the shuttle fails to enter the shuttle-box, the layactuating mechanism maintaining positive control of the lay when its stroke is shortened.

2. In a loom, a lay having a shuttle-box provided with a binder, lay-actuating mechanism, and controlling means therefor operatively connected with and governed by the binder to vary the action of said mechanism and thereby shorten'by a predetermined amount and positively control the forward beat of the lay when the shuttle fails to prop erly enter the shuttle-box.

3. In a loom, a lay having a shuttle-box, lay-actuating mechanism, including a crankshaft and a pitman, a shiftable, sliding connection between the latter and the lay, and

positively-acting means to shift such connection and shorten by a predetermined amount the forward beat of the lay upon failure of the shuttle to properly enter the shuttle-box.

4. In a loom, a lay having a shuttle-box, means, including a binder, to detect failure of the shuttle to properly enter the shuttle-box, lay-actuating mechanism, including a member having a shiftable connection with the lay, and devices operatively connected with and governed by said shuttle detecting means to positively shift the connection upon failure'of the shuttle to be properly boxed to thereby shorten positively by a predetermined amount the forward beat of the lay.

5. Ina loom, a lay having a shuttle-box, layactuatingmechanism,includingamemberhaving a shiftable connection with the lay, means to shift said connection and thereby shorten the forward beat of the lay when the shuttle fails to box properly, and aregulating device to adjust such shortened stroke in conformity with the width of the shuttle.

6. In a loom, a lay having a shuttle-box provided with a binder, an elongated guide mounted on and angularly movable relatively to the lay, lay-actuating mechanism, including a crank-shaft and a pitman having a shiftable, sliding connection with the guide, and means operatively connected with and governed by the binder to effect a change in the relative position of the guide and the lay and thereby shift the connection between said guide and the pitman to shorten by a predetermined amount the forward beat of the lay when the shuttle fails to properly enter the tion to permit the slide-block to move toward its upper end on the forward beat of the lay and shorten the stroke of the lay.

8. In a loom, a lay having a shuttle-box, protector mechanism including a binder and a spring-controlled rock-shaft, a segment-gear fixedly connected therewith, an elongated, upturned guide fulcrumed on the lay and having an attached pinion in mesh with the segment-gear, a crank-shaft, and a pitman intermediate it and the guide and having a shiftable connection therewith, sl'iuttle-induced movement of the binder acting through the gearing to swing the guide into position to prevent shifting of the pitman connection on the forward beat of the lay, said gearing acting on such beat to swing the guide forward on its fulcrum when the shutter fails to box, to permit the pitman connection to slide along the guide and thereby shorten the forward stroke of the lay.

9. In a loom, a lay having a shuttle-box, protector mechanism including a binder and a spring-controlled rock-shaft, an elongated upturned guide fulcrumed on the lay, a slideblock movable longitudinally in said guide, a crank-shaft, a pitman connected therewith at one end and at its other end pivotally connected with said slide-block, and connections between the guide and the protectorrockshaft,the guide being normally swung forward on the backward beat, and rearward on the forward beat, of the lay by the alternate action of the spring and the shuttle, to maintain the slide-block below the fulcrum of the guide, failure of the shuttle to box causing forward swing of the guide as the lay beats up permitting the slide-block to move up along the guide and thereby shorten the stroke of the In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY coTE.

Witnesses: I

CHAS. O. WALKER, GEORGE E. RYCROFT. 

